Gang Talks

Every day I read more depressing statistics in the paper relating to gang activity. More people are being killed and no one seems to be taking the problem seriously. More law enforcement and more police crackdowns are the only feeble solutions I have ever heard mentioned. This is not some small issue isolated to big-city ghettos. This is not “just kids.” This is a total deterioration of our society.

I don’t have an answer, but I do have a suggestion. And that is to treat gang warfare like we treat other regional conflicts. We must take the initiative and sponsor serious, nationwide talks on the same scale as those going on between representatives of the Middle East. Sure, such talks have taken place, but only on a small scale.

We can’t continue to hope that gangs will just go away. We can’t continue to act as if these are “just kids.”

JUDY BERLFEIN

Encinitas